Coming to Christ, Part 1

Introduction: The Vital Theme of Coming to Christ

0:02 I believe under the leading of the Holy Spirit that I have been impressed to choose as our subject for the ministry of the word both this morning and this evening and I believe possibly next Lord's Day morning perhaps one of the most vital practical themes of the scripture and one upon which frankly I've never heard a sermon. This is what made preparation so difficult because I didn't have much as a sphere of reference from which to draw some guidelines and it's not bad walking up a mountain trail there's lots to discover on your own at least if there's some semblance of a footpath where someone has walked before you.

0:45 You don't ask for a paved concrete street but you do like to know that at least someone has charted the course before you and I'm sure there are sermons on the subject written. I was not able to. To discover any in my library or with the time allotted to me and it's on the biblical theme of coming to Christ coming to Christ there are some marvelous promises attached to this little phrase coming to Christ by way of introduction let's look at several of the tremendous promises attached to this spiritual activity described in the Bible as.

1:29 Coming to Christ in Matthew 11 the Lord Jesus said in verse 28 Matthew 11 and verse 28 unto me all ye that labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest here the ministry of the Lord Jesus in giving rest to weary sinners is contingent upon this activity. Come.

2:05 Unto me in John 6 and 37 we read him that cometh unto me I will in no wise cast out the tremendous promise that the Lord Jesus will never cast out from his presence any who sincerely and genuinely come to him tremendous promise all contingent upon the little phrase come unto me in John 6 44 our Lord says no man.

2:35 Can come unto me except the father which has sent me draw him and I will raise him up at the last day what a tremendous promise the Lord Jesus said that there are certain ones that he will raise up at the last day in the resurrection of the just who will stand before him glorified sinners who will not be condemned for their sins fall in sons of Adam who will not be punished for their fall in their rebellion and he says.

3:06 It's all contingent upon this coming unto him and so here are the broad promises of God sinners who come find rest sinners who come will not be cast out sinners who come will be raised up at the last day and conversely there are some terrible warnings in the scripture about those who fail to come to Christ in John 5 and verse 40 the Lord Jesus said he will not come to me.

3:36 That she may have life and he said to the people of his own generation you forfeit eternal life by your unwillingness to come to me it's a frightful thing and if the Lord Jesus promises that he'll not cast out those who do come he strongly inferring that all who do not come will be cast out if he promises rest to all who come by inference he's saying there is no rest for those who do not come.

4:07 I remind you of these things by way of introduction so that I might secure an active mind on your part that I might secure your interest in our subject this morning and again tonight for this is not a matter of a mere academic study what does it mean to come to Christ this is a matter of being given the rest of Christ or not being given that rest being received by him or cast out from him being raised up in the last day.

4:38 Last day justified or being raised up in the last day condemned this matter of coming to Christ is not a mere matter to titillate our intellects but it's a matter of life and of death a matter of heaven and of hell a matter of knowing Christ and being one with him or being cast off from him and so my purpose this morning in striking out on this biblical theme of coming to Christ.

Threefold Purpose of the Sermon

5:08 What is it what does it mean I'll lay my purpose before you very frankly and I definitely have one purpose in mind to give some direction to some of you who still desperately needed on this subject I know of at least several in this congregation this morning and there may be more who have been awakened to their sense of need of Jesus Christ they are no longer in that place that we would call the place.

5:41 Of a sleeping sinner who's unconcerned about heaven and hell and death and judgment and couldn't care less but they have come to that place where the issues of heaven and hell of life and death of Christ and his salvation have become issues of tremendous importance to them they are awakened to the reality and do the importance of spiritual issues my purpose under God in striking out on this topic.

6:13 On this biblical theme is that God might give some direction to some of you who would be classified as awakened sinners or if the devil can keep us from becoming awakened or if he's defeated in that purpose he can no longer keep us totally ignorant and unconcerned about spiritual things the moment we begin to be awakened then he will seek to give us wrong answers to what our need is once we become aware of that need and so I trust that these messages will be.

6:44 A directing finger pointing you to the only way that these great problems that now begin to press it upon your mind and heart the only way they can be solved then my second purpose and I would be equally as frank in mentioning this is not only a word of direction to awaken souls but I trust this will be a word of destruction to some deceived souls there are many people who think that they have come to Christ.

7:17 But they have not come to him in the terms or in the way that the Bible speaks that coming to Christ is a true and valid spiritual experience and so I'm trusting that God will use his truth not only as a word of direction but a word of destruction that it will actually destroy the foundation upon which some of you are building you say isn't that a cruel thing for a pastor to want to destroy things in his people no no it's not cruel.

7:49 For until the foundation upon which you are resting is destroyed you will never flee to the only foundation that will stand you in good stead in the day when you stand before God and the kindest thing I can do for some of you is to be an instrument in the hands of God to destroy your concept of what it is to come to Christ for it's not a biblical concept and when you read that promise him that comes to me I will in no wise cast out you say well.

8:21 I have come but you have not taken the time to discover what does the Bible means by coming to Christ you have put your own meaning on those words and content that your meaning is the Bible meaning you say I've come therefore he's received me when he hasn't received you for you haven't come in the way that Christ describes coming and then my third purpose is that this may be a word of instruction to those of you who by the spirit have come to Christ. That.

8:55 You may be brought to a place of renewed gratitude for the marvelous work that God did in bringing you to that place where you came to Christ I trust before the day is out some of you will be pressed on your faces lost in wonder love and praise and all that God did in order to bring you to that place where you came to Christ and then I trust it will not only be a word of instruction to you in terms of producing gratitude. But.

9:27 But I trust that it will be a word of instruction to help you in your witnessing to others that if someone says well you tell me I must come to Christ what does it mean well don't just tell them what it means to believe well what's believe me well that means to come but that you'll be able to define what the scripture means by those terms come to Christ him that comes I will in no wise cast out that's wonderful but how do I know that I'm coming to him and so I trust that the instruction today.

9:58 Will be helpful not only in terms of producing gratitude in your heart but in terms of helping you to be a more effective witness for the Lord Jesus so this is our purpose a word of direction to awaken souls a word of destruction. To deceive souls and a word of instruction to those who truly belong to the Lord Jesus all right then what does it mean to come to Christ we've looked at the promises to come to him is to have rest to come to him. To come to him is to be assured that will never be cast out what then does it mean to come to Christ may we start this morning by saying what it does not mean.

What Coming to Christ is NOT: A Physical Act

10:38 Where I find it very helpful in trying to define biblical concepts and in studying them through. To eliminate what a certain phrase or biblical concept does not mean so we want to start there this morning. When the Lord Jesus said him that comes unto me I will in no wise cast out what did he not mean.

10:58 By that phrase come to me and the first thing he did not mean coming to Christ is not a physical act there are multitudes deceived at this point many within the very pale and under the canopy of professing evangelical Christendom have equated coming to Christ with some kind of an overt physical act let me explain what I mean.

11:32 I'll be. With some of my pastor friends in a few weeks and we'll be discussing different things when we have our conference our district conference second full week in September and no doubt one of the questions that will be frequently asked of the brethren is how are things going how did things go last Sunday night and no doubt I'll hear words like this we had a wonderful service last Sunday night five people came to Christ now what do they mean what they mean is five people came to Christ.

12:06 What they mean is five people raised a hand and were prayed for or five people came down to the front of a church and knelt and prayed or went into an inquiry room they saw five people make some kind of a physical overt response to the preaching of the gospel now what have they done they have equated that physical act with the spiritual activity of coming to Christ and this has been so worked into the thinking in our evangelical circles. And this has been so worked into the thinking in our evangelical circles. And this has been so worked into the thinking in our evangelical circles.

12:39 That people aren't even aware they're not even aware that they have done this so that wherever there's that physical overt act automatically people feel and think there has been that spiritual inward reality of coming to Christ but coming to Christ is not a physical act and we evangelicals who pride ourselves in being true to the scriptures and sound in our evangelism we must take note of this fact that. That people aren't even aware that coming to Christ is not a physical act now the Church of Rome has earned and that they make it a physical act in terms of.

13:19 GRICED IN HIS GRACE ARE BOUND UP IN THE SACRAMENT SO IF YOU'VE COME TO THE BAPTISMAL FONT OR FOUND AND IF YOU COME AND RECEIVE THE WAFER THEN AUTOMATICALLY YOU HAVE THE GRACE OF CHRIST BECAUSE THAT GRACE IS CONFERRED THROUGH THOSE SACRAMENTS ONLY ONE THING WRONG WITH THAT IT'S NOT BIBLICAL FOR YOU SEE IF WE PUT. COMING TO CHRIST. in any kind of a physical act, whether the kinds of physical acts, raising a hand, coming to an altar, that are practiced in our evangelical churches, or whether it's the physical act in more what we might call our ritualistic churches who put grace in the baptismal font or grace in the sacraments, we have completely denied

14:03 what our Lord Jesus taught in John 6, 44 about coming to Christ. Read what it says.

14:10 No man can come to me except the Father which hath sent me draw him.

14:19 Now, if coming to Christ is some kind of a physical act, then I do not need a special inward operation of the Holy Spirit called the drawing of the Father. All I need is courage to stick my hand up in a meeting or physical strength to walk down an aisle. Or, if I'm a Romanist, all I need is to have parents who are devoted enough to get me to that baptismal font and I need to be, concerned enough to get there and get that consecrated wafer. I don't need the drawing of the Father for that, do I?

14:51 Do I need to have any inward, supernatural, divine operation of the Holy Spirit to raise a hand, to walk an aisle, to come to a baptismal font? Of course not.

15:03 And our Lord Jesus said that coming to Him, the nature of that activity is such that no man can come unless there be this mighty operation of God called the drawing of God unto Christ. The second reason why we know that coming to Christ cannot be a purely physical act is that it would be unjust.

15:24 What about those who are physically incapacitated and cannot raise a hand or walk an aisle or get to a baptismal font? Or for those who are in places where they can't have the oil of extreme unction put upon them and their sins remitted by the hands and by the words of a priest? Will God forever consign them to separation from Him because they couldn't come to Christ in that physical way because they were hindered physically? It's against the whole biblical concept of the justice of God and the freeness of the offer of the gospel.

16:01 And so for any here in our midst who are sure that you've come to Christ because you have come through some overt physical act,

16:10 I trust the Spirit of God will utterly strip this from you this morning. And that where we have allowed this kind of thinking to permeate our minds, that God will take His word and use it as a purging influence that we will never, never think, let alone speak, in terms of equating a physical act with the inward reality of coming to Christ. The second thing that coming to Christ is not, it is not a purely mental act. And again, many are deceived at this point.

What Coming to Christ is NOT: A Purely Mental Act

16:44 They are confronted with some propositions about Jesus Christ. He is the Son of God, born of the Virgin. He died for sinners. He was buried.

16:53 He rose again, seated at the right hand of the Father. There is forgiveness in no one else but Him. And these propositions are laid before men. Then, now listen carefully, then men and women are told, if you will assent to those propositions, that is the essence of coming to Christ.

17:13 Will you assent to the fact that He is the Son of God, the only Savior of sinners? And by that nodding of the head to these propositions about Christ, you have come, come to Christ. Again, I submit that if this is true, then John 6.44 better be scratched out of the Bible.

17:30 No man can come to me except the Father which has sent me draw him. There need be no supernatural operation of the Holy Spirit to get a man to assent to the historical facts of the Gospel.

17:47 For if a man wants to deny that Jesus Christ was entirely unique, he has some tremendous problems. He has got to dispose of all the attributes, all the evidence, historically, experimentally, that Jesus Christ is more than a man. If he wants to deny that he died on a cross, again, he has some tremendous problems because even godless, non-Christian historians make some allusions and references to the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. So on the same basis that the average person will accept the testimony of history concerning George Washington, his place as the father of our nation, his place as the father of our nation, his place as the father of our nation, his place as the father of our nation, his place as the father of our nation, and our first president, a person may, without any work or operation of the Holy Spirit

18:31 upon his mind and heart, assent and have a mental activity that moves in the direction of Christ. But this is not coming to Christ. It is not a purely mental act. And you see, just as modern evangelistic methods have failed to realize that coming to Christ is not a purely mental act, so the modern evangelistic message has failed to recognize that coming to Christ is not a merely mental act.

What Coming to Christ is NOT: A Mystical Experience Unfounded in Truth

19:02 And yet, the whole thrust of evangelism in our day is, here are these propositions, assent to them, and all is well. But that is not coming to Christ. That is not coming to Christ. The third thing coming to Christ is not, it is not a mystical experience unfounded in truth.

19:26 Now, I do not want to simplify it, but words are funny things. They are like colors. And you want a certain tone of red, and that one there isn't it, and this one here isn't, and you find the one that is. Well, this is the way words are.

19:48 And so, I have used the words purposely. Coming to Christ is not a mystical experience unfounded in truth. Many people have a vague way, they have had a vague commitment to this vaguely known Christ. Now, that is not coming to Christ.

20:11 For our Lord Jesus made very clear in John chapter 5, notice carefully what he says. Verse 39. He searched the Scriptures or searched the Scriptures because ye think that in them ye have eternal life. Now notice.

20:30 And ye will not come to me that ye may have life. Now, keep that thought in your mind. The Scriptures, he said, bear testimony of me and you will not come to me. And then, John 6, 45.

20:50 As it is written in the Prophets, and they shall all be taught of God, everyone that hath heard the Jews of his day, you search the Scriptures and you think eternal life is bound up in the Scriptures. But he said, the Scriptures are a declaration of who I am and what I have come to do, the result of which should be that you would come to me as I am to you. What manifestation does it

21:35 take? He tells us in verse 45, as it is written in the Prophets, they shall be taught of God. Everyone that hath heard from the Father and learned cometh to me. So, coming to Christ involves the Scriptures, their testimony about who Christ is.

22:05 And I read religious periodicals and I'm greatly disturbed because people are using the phrase, well, I came to Christ and you read a little bit longer and you realize they don't have the slightest notion about who Christ is theologically. They don't have the least bit of an idea of the concept of a vague person called Christ. Now that is not coming to Christ, not according to Christ's definition.

22:49 He said, coming to me is the response of learning something about me as it's declared in this book. So, coming to Christ is a method of fundamentalism is they've got coming to Christ a physical act. So when they come to the altar, they come to Jesus. No, that's wrong.

23:21 The problem with the message of our fundamental or evangelical circles is that we've made ascent to certain propositions coming to Christ. And the problem with neo-orthodoxy is right here. They would say it's unimportant if we don't know what God wants in our lives. So, they're going to come to Christ and they're going to come to Christ and they're going to come to

24:06 Christ. They would say, no, this is unimportant. All that's important is this existential, this experimental encounter with Christ. Who he is is unimportant as far as defining him theologically.

24:23 What he actually did in space and time when he died upon the cross, unimportant just so long as you take this leap in the dark and you encounter Christ and all is well. And then, in the world and the pages of this book, Jesus said, all that have learned of the Father through the Scriptures, they come to me. Do you see it? And some of you students will need this.

25:06 Some of you students are friends and friends with God. Some of you might be Christian or Christian and also some of you might be a Christian or some of you like Jesus in the world. But there is a true resurrection of a true person. He said, we are yet in our sins and our faith is vain.

What Coming to Christ is NOT: A Mere Volitional Experience

25:46 Beloved, this is the core of the gospel. So coming to Christ is not a pure mystical experience unfounded in truth and in doctrine. And then last of all, coming to Christ is not a mere volitional experience. And I'll explain what I mean by that. There's a lot of fuzzy talk in our

26:07 day about I've decided for Christ. I always get a little bit upset when I hear that talk like that. What in the world do people mean? Is the Lord Jesus up for office? Has he sent out a ballot

26:21 and asked people to check whether they'll vote for him or for the devil or for Khrushchev or for Kosygin or for LBJ? What do they mean by this? I have decided for Christ. Frankly, I don't understand what some of this phraseology means.

26:40 I wish I could. I wish I could penetrate beneath the surface of the words. Will you listen carefully? Nobody is saved who doesn't make a choice in the direction of Jesus Christ and his gospel and his will.

26:55 Nobody saved who doesn't make a choice. But listen carefully. If that choice is simply a cranking up of old Adam's will and a rolling up of your arms, your sleeves and saying, I'm going to live for Christ. You haven't come to it because you know, all that will of yours can do left to itself without the work of the spirit. Romans eight, seven tells me what

27:19 it can do. The carnal mind is enmity against God. It is not subject to the law of God. Neither indeed can it be. You cannot harness your rebel will and bring it subject to Jesus Christ. My

27:35 Bible says that carnal mind, the will, that principle of life is enmity against God. It isn't subject to the law of God. Neither indeed. Can it be? That's why Jesus said, no man can come unless the father. For it's only by the mighty

27:55 operation of God subduing the rebel will that I will ever choose Jesus Christ. I choose. Yes. But my choosing is the result of his drawing and his way. It's always bothers me when I talk with

28:12 people and they say, well, you know, when I decide to become a Christian, I'm going to go all out. I don't want to be half-hearted. So when I decide, get good and ready, I'm just going to crank up my old Adam will and say, good. Now you're going to bend in the direction of Jesus. Now, if they're really sincere, something will happen before too

28:29 long. And it'd be the most blessed thing that ever happened to them. They'll find old Adam just won't be harnessed by self. They'll find they just can't put a bit in a bridle and a saddle upon old Adam's will. He's incorrigible. Can't break it. And finally, in desperation, they'll fall down if

28:53 they're in earnest and say, Lord, you've got to do something with my willer, with my chooser. Lord, you've got to do something with my Walter. And God says, that's right. That's what I've promised to do in the new covenant.

29:09 For God says, I will take out the heart of stone. I will give you a heart of flesh. I will put my laws within you. I will cause you to walk in my statutes. I will cause you to keep my judgment.

29:21 You don't do it. I do it. Philippians two, he worketh in us both to will and to do, of his good pleasure. And so many today are fully convinced that they've come to Christ because at some point they cranked up old Adam's will. And from that point on,

29:43 they've done what they could do. Doesn't say the carnal mind cannot become religious, or you can become very religious, orthodox, respectable, moral. You don't need, you don't need to come to Christ to quit your bad habits. Lots of people quit their vices without coming to Christ.

30:02 Athletes will give up smoking just in order to be a better athlete. Sure. They'll lead a rigid, disciplined life without any of the grace of God. So coming to Christ is not simply cranking up old Adam's will and then becoming refined and rather cultured with a Christian flavor and learning some doctrine, something more involved. Coming to Christ then is not any one of these four things.

What Coming to Christ IS: Another Description of Believing

30:36 It is not a purely mental act assenting to some facts. It is not a physical act. Coming to Christ is not a mystical act unfounded in truth, and it is not simply a volitional act, my deciding that I'm going to live for God and for Christ. Well, if it's not these things, then what is it? What is it? Well,

31:02 it's simply another description of what it means to believe. Notice in John chapter 6 how the terms are used interchangeably. To believe in Christ and to come to Christ. These terms are used interchangeably. John chapter 6

31:20 and notice verses 37 and 40. All that the Father giveth me shall come to me and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out. Verse 40. For this is the will of my Father that everyone that beholdeth the Son and believeth on him should have eternal life.

31:41 Those that come, I will receive. Verse 40. Those that believe, I will receive. Verse 35 of the same chapter, they're actually used in successive phrases. Jesus said unto them, John 6, 35, I am

31:57 the bread of life. He that cometh to me shall never hunger, and he that believeth on me shall never thirst. And here the terms are used interchangeably. Coming to me, believing on me.

32:08 And I'm so glad God's given us this. Because the word believe, like so many words, like the word love, has such a latitude of meaning. And the word coming is far more precise. You get up this morning and your wife fixed you a good breakfast and you say, dear, you know, I really appreciate that. I just love scrambled eggs. And you go home

32:31 this afternoon and you're sitting at the table and you bow in prayer and you say, Lord, we love you. Now, you don't mean the same thing with eggs and God. Now, the word love has a tremendous latitude. And we use it in that way. It's not a very precise word. And the word believe is used in a tremendous

32:51 latitude. It says the demons believe and they tremble. They're not saved, but they believe. It speaks of Simon the sorcerer who believed and was baptized, but he wasn't saved because Peter said a little bit later on, you're still in the bond of iniquity and the gall of bitterness.

First Factor of Coming to Christ: Recognition of Need

33:04 But the word or phrase coming to Christ, which is another description of true saving faith, the more precise concept of faith, this phrase coming is far more descriptive and precise and accurate. And it's used interchangeably. All right, then what does it involve? Well, the first thing it involves, and we'll see a number of passages that clearly indicate this coming to Christ always involves, first of all, the recognition of need that only he can meet. You remember our text in Matthew 11, 28, Jesus said, come unto me. And then he qualified.

33:44 Who was that invitation? Therefore all people period. No, he said what all that labor, and are heavy, laid.

33:57 He said those who are candidates to come to me and all that that involved are those who are conscious of neighboring and being heavy laden, they have conscious felt spiritual need that they know can't be met. Any. else come unto me notice a similar expression well we don't need to turn to it i'll quote it it's familiar to some of us in isaiah 55 god says ho everyone that thirsteth come ye to the waters god invites the thirsty to come in matthew he invites those who labor and are heavy laden

34:41 john chapter 7 you may want to turn over to that for a moment verse 37 now on the last day the great day of the feast jesus stood and cried saying if any man thirst let him come unto me and drink what is thirst it is a conscious felt physical need now the lord jesus said just as thirst is this to a man physically so the only ones who can truly come to him or ever will come to him

35:23 in the biblical sense are those who have a spiritual need that is likened to thirst a conscious need that only christ can fill physical thirst is a need that only a liquid can fill tell a thirsty man you're going to give him a check for a hundred dollars it doesn't interest him if he's really thirsty he wants water he wants something to quench his thirst tell him you've got a cadillac waiting outside it doesn't interest him why because thirst is a need that only water can meet the lord jesus said if any man thirst if you've been blocked to the awareness of need that only cardinal then come here today for coming but none other is it the penny i think they're busy

36:06 purpose in the holy spirit sues of these two things in matthew is an common to me or even laboring Italy theplet and i believe this is the picture of the man whose most conscious need is bad just he's like the old group who had his adepta police back this man it's him just see you and just kick the fuck off with this acidus you over one hundred worthいい not the kind of an idea that had been imposed until part one hundred my great uncle was out of the minutes but my own success went啦 see that God is holy. God is just and must punish sin. And he realizes that there is chargeable to his account a veritable mountain of iniquity. If sin is the transgression of the law, and if the requirement of the law is to love God with the whole heart, this man realizes every moment, I've lived all my life, I've lived sinning against God. I

36:50 haven't loved him with my whole heart. I haven't loved him with my whole soul. I haven't loved him with my whole strength. If God is holy and just, he'll have to punish me for my defection from him, from my heart that's gone a-whoring after other interests. And here's the picture

37:08 of the man who feels the weight of the guilt of his sin. In the other picture, if any man thirsts, I believe we have a picture here not of the man who feels the guilt of his sin, but the loss of his sin. The lostness and the emptiness of life apart from Christ. And the Holy Spirit deals with different people different ways. Some in preparing them to come to Christ, he deals with them

37:32 in terms of their legal relationship to God. He is their judge and the lawgiver. They are guilty criminals. They have broken his law. They labor and heavy laden under a sense of

37:43 their guilt. Others, God deals with them by showing them that life was never meant to be lived apart from God. And that the root of all sin is to live with God. And that the root of all sin is to live with God. And that the root of all sin is to live with God.

37:53 All the sense of frustration and emptiness is that they have never known vital, true contact with God. There is awakened within them a sense of the absolute emptiness of life apart from the knowledge of God in Christ. And they begin to thirst. As the hymn writer said, all my life long I had panted for a draft from some cool spring that I hoped would quench the burning of the thirst I felt within. Feeding on the husks around me,

38:23 faint was I and ready to die. Longed my soul for something better. That's the cry of one who has been made thirsty. Now we can't dictate how the Holy Spirit should deal with men. If he wants to

38:37 deal with them in terms of God as an offended judge or in terms of God as a father from whom they are estranged by birth and by practice, aliens from him. And this is his work to deal with us in either way. But the Lord says until we're brought to that place of our sense of being heavy laden or our sense of emptiness and thirst, we cannot, we will not, we never will come to him. This was the problem of the Jews in our Lord's day. He said in verse 39 of John 5, he said, you search the

39:20 scriptures because in them you think you have eternal life. But he said, these scriptures are the very thing that you have eternal life. And he said, you have eternal life. And he said, you have eternal life. And he said, you have eternal life. And he said, you have eternal life. And he

39:27 testified of me, verse 40, and you will not come to me. And why wouldn't they come to him? The simple reason that they were not laboring and heavy laden and they were not thirsty. You see, the Jews of our Lord's day were not consciously naked, looking for some covering for their sinfulness. When the Lord

39:51 Jesus offered himself as that covering, they weren't interested. Why? They didn't feel themselves naked. They were not wounded.

40:00 Sensing that they had broken God's holy law, they were not wounded sinners looking for some balm for their wounds. They were not terrified by God's holy law, looking for a refuge. They were not consciously empty, looking for fullness. They were not consciously ignorant, looking for light.

40:22 They were not consciously blind, looking for sight. They were not consciously dead, looking for life. They were not consciously lost, groping for a path. They were not consciously aware that they were the slaves of sin looking for liberation.

40:37 For when the Lord Jesus said, whoever commits sin is the slave of sin, they say, we're free men. We're not slaves. That's why the only one who could give them life could stand in their midst. And they didn't come.

40:48 Why? Because they were not conscious that they were the slaves of sin. They were not conscious of a polluted heart that needed cleansing. That's why they didn't come.

41:00 All of these factors, they had no conscious felt need, therefore they did not come. They did not come.

41:11 May I say, I trust with sympathy and clarity and yet with an authority that God will use to awaken some of you dear ones here today. Listen to me. You have never come to Jesus in the biblical sense. If you have not been made consciously and painfully aware of your need of him, do you know what it is to be heavy laden under a sense of your guilt?

41:47 Have you known what it is to spend even one hour with the terrifying thought that a holy God who sees and knows everything you've done and said and thought has actually recorded, we use the figure he doesn't need a pen and paper, but has record of every deviation from his holy law in thought, word and deed? And that he's going to hold you accountable for it in the day of judgment?

42:16 I tell you, dear one, when that thought begins to press in upon you, you begin to be heavy laden.

42:24 And labor under the sense of where can I flee?

42:34 It's merely to hasten the time when I must stand before him. To seek to run from God I cannot, for he fills heaven and earth. Where shall I go? Where shall I go?

42:46 Do you know what it is to experience that? I'm not asking you, have you heard preachers talk about it? Do you know what that is? Do you know what it is to experience that?

42:56 Do you know what it is to thirst? Jesus said, come all that thirsts.

43:03 Have you seen the utter vanity of life with you at the center? Do you hear me? The utter vanity of life with you at the center? Have you seen the emptiness of it all?

43:18 Or have you been content? Come here, hear me preach once a week and go your way, live a life wrapped up in yourself and think that's life. You enjoy me. If you can enjoy life, it is not centered in Jesus Christ.

43:32 You've never been made thirsty.

43:40 You've never come to Christ.

43:43 Because no one comes who does not, first of all, recognize their need of him. Need which only he can meet. Now you may have done some outward physical act. You may have come down an aisle, raised a hand, gone to an inquiry room.

43:59 I'm sure there are many of you who have done that.

44:02 And you may have had some mental act. You heard some propositions about Christ and you said that's reasonable on the basis of the evidence presented. That makes good sense. And so you've assented to those propositions.

44:14 Or you may have had some kind of mystical experience, unfounded in truth, and had some kind of existential encounter with something called Christ.

44:23 Or you may have cranked up old Adam's wheel and said, I'll decide for Jesus and been a very reasonable moral person ever since. But listen to me. If you've not been made painfully and consciously aware of spiritual need that only he can meet, you've never come to him. For he himself said, I came not.

44:43 To call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. What kind of sinners? In the same passage, he says, they that are whole have no need of a doctor, but they that are sick.

44:57 Doctors have no time. Come by your house every three weeks to pay a social call.

45:03 Too many people who need their services, who are conscious of that need. The Lord Jesus is in the business of saving needy sinners.

45:16 Is this true of you?

45:20 If it isn't, you've never come.

45:25 And if you have, oh, listen to me. I believe this is a ray of hope. For some of you, if you sit here this morning and you see yourself as someone naked as far as having anything to commend yourself to God, you see yourself as empty, needing the fullness that only God can give. You see yourself as ignorant, blind to spiritual realities, and you long for instruction.

45:49 You see yourself as blind, needing sight. You see yourself as dead, needing life, as lost, needing a path, as a slave of sin, needing liberation. You see yourself having a polluted heart that needs cleansing. Don't despair, dear one.

46:05 Oh, listen. As the wonderful hymn says, All the fitness he requireth is to see your need of him. This he giveth, tis the Spirit's rising beam. And oh, dear one, if you've been brought to the place where you're laboring, and you're a heavy laden young person or adult, if you've been brought to the place where you're thirsty, don't despair.

46:27 For this is an indication. This is an indication that God in mercy is drawing you to himself.

Preview of Remaining Factors and Urgent Application

46:35 That's the first factor in coming to Christ. Recognition of need that only he can meet. I'd hope to get further, but I believe we'll go this far and stop this morning. Let me just mention what the other two heads are going to be.

46:52 The second factor of coming to Christ is revelation of the suitableness of Christ to my need.

47:02 No one comes to Christ who does not need. No one comes who does not see his need. No one comes who is not shown by the Holy Spirit the suitableness of Christ to that need.

47:14 Where I am naked, he offers himself to be my robe of righteousness. Where I am lost, he says I am the way. Where I am dead, he says I am the light. Where I am blind, he offers sight.

47:29 And I see by the revelation of the Spirit the perfect suitableness of Christ to my need. Amen. And the third factor involved in coming to Christ is a resignation of myself to him to meet that need. A committing of myself to him to meet my need.

47:52 The Lord willing, we'll expound in more detail these thoughts. But a preacher always preaches under the realization that some of you may not be here. Either by providential hindrance.

48:06 Others, previous commitments. Others, spiritual indifference. Some of you may never be in another church service again. You may be summoned out of this life by the sovereign act of God.

48:19 And oh, I plead with you this morning to ask yourself the question, Have I come to Christ? Not have I come down an aisle, raised a hand, and prayed a prayer. That's a purely physical act.

48:34 I'm not asking that. I'm not asking if you've nodded to some propositions of the Bible about Christ. That's a purely mental act. I'm not asking if you've had some kind of an experience with reference to Christ.

48:48 Unfounded in truth about who he is and what he's done for sinners. That's a purely mystical act or experience. I'm not asking if you've one time in the murky past rolled up your sleeves and said, I'm going to take Jesus and live for him. And you've been fairly reasonable and nice.

49:05 Come to church ever since. What I'm asking you is if you've been made painfully aware of need. That only he can meet. And has the same spirit shown you the suitableness of Christ to that need?

49:18 And have you abandoned yourself to him? And to him alone to meet that need? If not, you haven't come to Christ. And Jesus said, if you do not come to me, you forfeit life.

49:33 But if you come, I'll in no wise cast you out. Come needy. Come naked. Come blind.

49:42 Come dead. Just. Just as I am without one plea. But that thy blood was shed for me.

49:50 And that thou bidst me come to thee. O Lamb of God, I come. Well, you say, Pastor, you're going to give us a chance to come? No, I'm asking you to come to him right now.

49:58 It's an activity of the heart and the mind by the spirit. It's not a physical act. See, that's in the back of our minds, isn't it? Probably some of you have been thinking that right now.

50:06 Well, now's the place to ask people to get up out of their seats and come down an aisle. I'd be contradicting what I preach.

50:13 Coming to Christ in faith. Seeing the gaze of the soul upon Christ. It's been the cry of my heart that some of you might come even here in this service this morning. I know some of you are awakened, disturbed.

50:35 And the only refuge for awakened sinners is Christ. Come to him. Come to him.