Coming to Christ, Part 2

Review: What Coming to Christ is Not

0:04 Now, if you will, please turn in your Bibles to the sixth chapter of the Gospel according to John. The passages to which we will be referring, by way of review, are found in the fifth and sixth chapters of the Gospel according to St. John.

0:25 And for the benefit of our friends who were not with us this morning, this morning's message was sort of the undergirding or foundation of tonight's message. And so before we build the superstructure, we'd like to go back and just spend a few minutes reviewing the basic concepts and truths that we considered this morning, so that tonight's message perhaps will have a bit more cohesion and unity with what we considered earlier today. The theme of our messages today from the Scriptures has been coming to Christ. The Lord Jesus said in John 6, 37, All that the Father giveth me...

1:07 shall come to me, and he that cometh unto me, I will in no wise cast out. Now, here is a tremendous promise that those who come to Christ, he will not cast out. Now, he didn't say those who come to a building, to a particular church or denomination or to a particular man, but he said those that come unto him, he would in no wise cast out. He gave...

1:38 He gave these wonderful promises that coming unto him, there will be forgiveness, peace, the rest of Matthew chapter 11, and we would be raised up in the last day to stand before him glorified and to be in his presence forever. And so it's of utmost importance that we understand what Christ meant by coming to him. For if coming to him is the basis upon which forgiveness is given, then if we're at all interested about the forgiveness...

2:08 the forgiveness of sins and eternal life, we should, if necessary, spend our entire lives seeking to discover what does it mean to come to Christ. And so this morning we looked into the scriptures to see what it does not mean. And we saw four things. Coming to Christ is not a physical act.

2:27 It is not coming down an aisle, coming to a baptismal font, coming to the sacraments. Coming to Christ is not a physical act. For if it were a physical act, then what Jesus said, in John 6, 44, would not be true. Where he said, No man can come to me except the Father which hath sent me draw him.

2:48 We need no drawing of the Father to perform some physical act, if that's what coming to Christ means. Then we saw that coming to Christ is not simply a mental act. It is not accepting the facts and propositions of the scripture about Christ. The Bible tells us he is the Son of God.

3:06 He was born of the... He died under Pontius Pilate.

3:11 He was buried. He rose again from the dead the third day. But coming to Christ is not simply with our minds accepting those propositions about Christ. For if this is true, then again the statement of Christ must be false.

3:26 For he said, No man can come except the Father draw him. And it takes no drawing of the Father to accept those propositions. It simply takes a willingness to accept facts based upon reasonable evidence the same way you accept the fact that George Washington was the President of the United States. The first one.

3:44 Though you've never seen him. Though you have never heard him. Though you have never...

3:49 Oh, you may have sat in a chair where he sat at one time if you visited some historical spot. But for the most part you believe that George Washington was a person. That he was the first President of the United States on the basis of reasonable evidence. And you may believe everything that is said about Christ.

4:06 In the scriptures on the same basis. And still not come to him. It is not a mere physical or mental act. Nor is it just having some kind of mystical experience.

4:18 Saying, well I have come to Christ. I don't know who he is and what he's done. But I've had some kind of experience with Christ. And then we last of all saw that coming to Christ was not a mere act of our unrenewed will.

4:32 Saying, I'm going to decide to live for Christ. If this were...

4:36 true again, John 6, 44, would be false. No man can come. And the word can is a word of ability. When my son says to me, Daddy, can I go outside? I say, no, Joel, what you mean is may I go outside? If you're healthy and well, of course you can. You are able to. It's a question of whether I will give you permission to. Jesus said no man can come.

4:58 And the word can is a word of ability. He said no man can come unto me except the Father draw him. And so man, apart from the renewal of his will by the Holy Spirit, is a rebel against God and will not be subject unto God. Then we just began this morning to study from the scriptures. What does it mean to come to Christ? If it is not a physical act, a mere mental act or some kind of mystical experience or a mere act of the will, what is coming to Christ? And we saw that the first thing it involves is the recognition of spiritual knowledge. The need which only Christ can meet. He says in John 737, if any man thirst, let him come unto me and drink. He said in Matthew chapter 11, verse 28, come unto me all ye that labor

The First Aspect of Coming to Christ: Recognition of Spiritual Need

5:51 and are heavy laden. And no one comes to Christ who is not, first of all, brought to the place of recognizing that they have spiritual needs. That only he can meet. And our need arises from our sinfulness. We are guilty. Therefore we labor and are heavy laden. We are estranged and separated from God. Therefore there are unmet soul thirsts and heart hungers that only Christ can meet. Now tonight we come to the second aspect of what it means to truly come to Christ. First of all, recognizing a need. A need which only He can meet. Secondly, there must be a revelation of the suitableness of Christ to our need. A revelation of the suitableness of Christ to our need.

The Second Aspect: Revelation of Christ's Suitability to Our Need – Based on Scripture

6:51 Now what is the basis of this revelation? Once we have discovered that we have sins that we cannot blot out, that we have unmet heart needs that we and the world and the flesh and all that we can try to enmesh ourselves in cannot meet, there must come this revelation that Jesus Christ is perfectly suited to all our spiritual needs. Now where does this revelation come from? Well the first principle we want to see is that the Scriptures are the basis of this revelation. Notice carefully in Saint John chapter 6. Chapter 6. The Lord Jesus said in verse 45, Now, where do we hear from the Father and learn of Him that we might come to Christ?

7:58 Well, turning back to chapter 5 and verse 39, we have the answer.

8:06 John 5, 39. Search the Scriptures, because ye think that in them ye have eternal life, and these are they which bear witness or testify of me. Now, where is the testimony of Christ found? In the Scriptures.

8:24 And so if you and I are to come to Christ, there must not only be this recognition of our need of Him, but the revelation of the suitableness of Christ to our need, and that revelation is based upon the Word of God. God has nowhere promised that it will come any other way than through the Scriptures. Jesus said, These are they that testify of me. And the way that we learn of the Father, that we might come to the Son, is to hear the voice of the Father speaking through the Scriptures.

9:01 But someone says, Wouldn't it be easier if God would send an angel to testify? Well, someone made that suggestion one time, or a suggestion similar to it. Wouldn't it be easier if someone came back from the dead and told us that we had better come to Christ, because death is sure and judgment is sure? There was a man in hell who made that suggestion.

9:28 We read about him in Luke chapter 16, a very interesting and helpful and instructive word. In Luke chapter 16, it's speaking of the rich man who died and in hell, lifted up his eyes, being in torment.

9:44 Do you remember that he got concerned about his brothers?

9:48 Luke 16, 27.

9:52 And he said, I pray thee therefore, Father, speaking to Abraham, that you would send him to my father's house, for I have five brothers, that he may testify unto them that they also come not into this place of torment. But Abraham said, They have Moses and the prophets. Let them hear. Now notice.

10:15 And he said, Nay, Father Abraham, but if one will go unto them from the dead, they'll repent. And what was the answer? And he said unto them, If they will not hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded if one rise from the dead. And the clear teaching of this passage is, that if men will not hear the testimony of the scriptures about death, about Jesus Christ as the only Savior suited for sinners, they wouldn't hear if Abraham himself were to come back from the dead and talk to them.

10:53 They wouldn't listen. For the revelation of Christ as the Savior who is suited to our need as sinners is based upon the word of God. This is why, as a minister of the gospel, this is why you as a Christian must continually urge all people, who begin to be conscious of their spiritual need, urge them to begin to search the scriptures. Don't just give them a verse or two and try to get them to feel better.

11:28 Seek to encourage them to take this book seriously and start to search its pages, crying to God that he'll reveal the Lord Jesus to them.

11:40 I find there is no advice that I give more to people with whom I speak as an individual, and personal witness than this. If you're in earnest about your soul, then prove it.

11:52 Prove it by getting your Bible and starting to search that Bible and crying to God that he'll reveal the Lord Jesus to. For nobody comes to the Lord Jesus unless he's been taught of the Father. Jesus said, All that hath learned and been taught of the Father come unto me. And where does the Father teach us?

12:11 This book. And so we must seek to shut men up to the scriptures that, that here they might hear and see and listen to the testimony of God. So all awakened sinners must be urged to turn to the scriptures. This is why all evangelism must be expository.

Application: Evangelism Must Be Expository and Scripture-Centered

12:33 It must be a setting forth of what the scripture says about great and eternal truth.

12:41 Evangelism is not someone with a strong personality, a captivating way who can stand and tell stories, and, and hold you at his fingertips, and has a great power of persuasion to get people to walk an aisle. That is not biblical evangelism. Biblical evangelism is declaring what the Bible says about God, about sin, about redemption, about heaven, about hell, and about the Redeemer. It must have solid substance at its core, or it is not evangelism.

13:14 It's not evangelism. As J.I. Packer says in his wonderful little book, Evangelism and the Sovereignty of God, he said, an evangelistic meeting is to be evaluated not in terms of results produced, but in terms of truth proclaimed.

13:33 You got it? You want to know whether a meeting has been evangelistic or not? You don't judge it by the fact that it had what we'd call an evangelistic flair, a soloist, someone with a captivating personality who could hold an audience at his fingertips, and because there was a great swarm of people who came and made some physical, spiritual response. No.

13:55 You evaluate that meeting in terms of what truth was proclaimed about God, about sin, about Christ, about repentance, about faith. And as I've applied that test, I tell you, many an evangelistic meeting simply hasn't been evangelistic. It's been cheap religious entertainment. That's all.

14:15 This is true of any church that falls into the curse of ritualism. How do we evaluate the value of a religious service? How much truth has been communicated? That's the touchstone.

14:27 That's the test by which we are to evaluate. The other night I was listening to a sermon over Christian radio station. I came in from ministering somewhere, and I kept listening and listening and listening. And after 15 minutes I said to Mrs. Martin, I said, Honey, it's amazing how long it takes some men to say nothing. I kept waiting for this man to give me something based upon this book that I could take hold of. And I kept reaching in vain. Reaching, reaching.

14:59 Reaching. And after 15 minutes, if someone said, Give one solid concept or principle of the Bible this man has given you, I'd have to say, Sorry, he's left me empty. Left me utterly empty. Now he had a wonderful personality.

15:12 That's why he was speaking at a big conference somewhere and got his tape on echoes. That's the big leagues. But no substance. Oh, I plead with the dear ones, I don't know what the years ahead hold.

15:29 But the time comes when you must select a pastor again. I don't see any such thing on the horizon. I have no tricks up my sleeve. But pray that God will help you to see through the glitter of personality.

15:43 Pray that God will help you to objectively evaluate a man in his ministry in terms of this. How much solid substance of truth does he communicate from the pulpit? And if it comes with a lot of flower and flowery embellishment of natural or rhetorical and rhetorical gifts, fine. But if it's stripped of all of that, if it's kind of raw and jagged and naked and not too smooth, if it's solid substance, then you cast your vote in that direction.

16:16 For if men are to be drawn to Christ, there must not only be the recognition of their need, but there must be the revelation of the suitableness of Christ to their needs, and that revelation is based upon the Holy Scriptures. Another lesson we learn from that principle is that beware of anything that undermines your confidence in the Bible. To undercut confidence in this book is to undercut confidence in the Savior who is its theme. See it?

16:52 And there is abroad in our land today, in our evangelical circles, a subtle moving that's beginning to put that, what I call, that little gray question mark over the authority of certain passages and portions of the Word of God. Do we really have to accept the Genesis account of creation? Can't it be symbolic? And some people are ready to relinquish the Bible account of creation, thinking that they've lost nothing.

17:23 Ah, but wait a minute. When I turn to the Gospels, I see that the Lord Jesus accepted that account. If it's wrong, He's wrong. And if He's wrong, He's not a divine, infallible Savior.

17:33 And if He's not that, then I'm not going to rest my soul in His hands. And the salvation of sinners is ultimately affected by any undercutting of the confidence in any portion of this blessed book. And so those are three vital applications of this principle, that sinners are drawn to Christ by the revelation of Christ that is based upon the Word of God. Therefore, direct men to the Scriptures.

18:00 The best thing you can do for your neighbors that you're witnessing to is to get them studying the Bible. If necessary, open your home. Have them over. And suggest you have a little home Bible study.

18:11 Start in the Gospel of John. Get them in the Bible. That's your task. Because Jesus said, These are they that testify of Me.

18:20 And they'll never come to Him until they've heard and learned of the Father, and they hear and learn of the Father in this book. That's why all evangelism must be expository. I don't mean you have to take a particular passage, four or five verses or a paragraph, but it must be an expounding, a setting forth, of the truth of this book. That's why we must beware of anything that would undercut our confidence in the Scriptures, whether it's making us doubt certain portions or whether it's placing the Scriptures into a relatively unimportant place.

18:53 This is one of the great things that causes thinking men to fear with the new movement toward a higher liturgy in a lot of old-line denominations of Protestantism. The Word of God is being pushed more and more to the background, and the pageantry of ceremony is coming into the foreground. Beware of it. For the moment the Scriptures cease to be central, Christ will cease to shine from its pages, and when He ceases to shine, sinners will not be drawn to Him.

The Second Aspect: Revelation of Christ's Suitability – Centered on His Person as Mediator

19:28 For they are drawn by the revelation of His suitableness to their need, based upon the Scriptures. That revelation, then, secondly, is not only based upon the Scriptures, but the Lord Jesus as God's mediator is the peculiar subject of that revelation. The Lord Jesus as God's mediator, God's go-between between sinful men and the Holy God is the peculiar and special subject of this revelation. Now follow our line of thinking.

20:04 Coming to Christ is not a physical act, a purely mental act, some kind of emotional experience. It's rooted in our sense of need. It must also be attended by a revelation of the suitableness of Christ to our need. It's based upon the Scriptures, and in a special way, that revelation focuses upon Jesus Christ in His place as God's mediator between sinful men and the Holy God.

20:37 The Lord Jesus in His person, first of all. Acts 5.30...

20:41 John 5.39...

20:43 The verse we've quoted several times tonight. Jesus said, Ye search the Scriptures, these are they that testify of Me. The person of the Lord Jesus is one of the grand central themes of the Word of God. By direct prophecy, by analogy, by types, by figures, by all of these different means, God is continually setting before us the person the only person who is suited to meet our spiritual needs.

21:19 In Luke 24.27 we read that the Lord Jesus opened unto the Scriptures and showed the people in the Scriptures all things concerning Himself. I wish I could have heard that when the Lord Jesus took the Old Testament Scriptures and starting with Moses, showed them references to His own glorious person who He was. Now see how this works as God deals with men to bring them to Christ.

21:47 Do I feel so lost that I know no man can help me? Do I realize my sins are so deeply ingrained that no man can scour them from my heart? No man can blot them from the record. Have I come to the place where I realize if ever my sin problem is to be dealt with, it'll have to be someone who's more than a man.

22:12 That's when I'm ready to receive that wonderful revelation announced to Joseph when he was perplexed when Mary was found with child by the Holy Ghost and he wondered what to do. The angel said, Don't be afraid, Joseph. She's with child by the Holy Spirit and she's going to bring forth a son and his name is Jesus. And then he went on to say this all came to pass that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet saying the virgin shall conceive and bear a son thou shall call his name Emmanuel which being interpreted is what?

22:45 God with us. Ah, there's a little ray of light. I see myself a sinner. Man cannot help me.

22:54 But from the pages of this book there emerges a person who is God. Emmanuel, God with us. And there's a little glimmer of hope that there may be hope for me. Somebody whose God has come to the rescue of sinners.

23:10 Perhaps I realize, well, my sin is such, how could God ever be concerned about it? Like that woman that I heard recently on the tape who said she got to the place where she realized if God is going to be holy and just the only thing he can do is damn my soul. She gave up all hope of mercy. When a man gets to that place what hope is there?

23:31 Well, he reads in this book that he is Emmanuel. Not only God with us, but God with us. And he sees that there's absolutely no explanation for the fact that Jesus Christ, the second person, of the Godhead would leave the glories of heaven and come to earth if he didn't have a purpose to do something for poor, helpless sinners. So I see a little ray of hope as I begin to understand who Jesus is.

23:58 And you see that hope doesn't come by simply telling people come to Jesus, come to Jesus, come to Jesus. We've got to tell them who he is. So that they see the suitableness of Christ to the deep need of their hearts. And where they feel themselves hopelessly lost as far as men are concerned, they see why he is God manifested in the flesh.

24:18 There's hope. When they feel themselves at such a distance from God because of their sins, they see that God has bridged that gap and became a man in the person of the Lord Jesus. Do I feel so far gone that I think, well, there's no hope, he wouldn't be interested in me? Well, then I see in the pages of this book that he spoke peace to a woman taken in adultery and when she was willing to repent, he said, neither do I condemn thee.

24:44 Go, sin no more. I see a blind beggar who comes to him in the press of a great throng and it says, Jesus stood still at the cry of a blind beggar. And I begin to take hope. Ah, this person, he listens to the cry of poor blind beggars.

25:01 That's what I am, spiritually blind. I'm a beggar, I'm a pauper, I have nothing. But it says, Jesus stands still when blind paupers cry. And hope comes.

25:14 Why? Not by simply telling people, come to Jesus, come to Jesus, come to Jesus, but by setting forth who he is and the wonder of his glorious person. And as the Holy Spirit is pleased to shine upon the face of Jesus, what happens? They see not only their need, but the suitableness of Christ to meet that need in his own person.

The Second Aspect: Revelation of Christ's Suitability – Centered on His Work as Mediator

25:40 But that relates not only to his person, but to his work, but to his work. They see the suitableness of Christ and his work as the only redeemer of sinners. 1 Timothy 2.5 says, There is one God and one Mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus.

26:00 Now I'll show you how this works. Do I wonder how, how can a holy God, how can a holy God forgive sin? I know he's a God of love, but love doesn't cancel out his justice. If God has said the wages of sin is death and I have sinned, then God will have to be true to his word and he'll have to display his love upon the angels who've never sinned.

26:28 But how can he ever cause love to be shown toward me? Ah, this Bible sets forth the peculiar ministry of the Lord Jesus. And when I see Christ dying and understand what that means, that in his death, as the scripture says, God was placing on him the sin of us all, he bore our sins in his own body on the tree, then suddenly there's hope that God can still be just and forgive me because he punished his son when he bore our sins in his own body on the tree. So the guilty sinner, aware of his need, laboring, heavy laden, as Matthew tells us, he'll never come to Christ until he sees the suitableness of Christ to his need, not only in his person, but in his work. And he sees him dying and he realizes there's hope for forgiveness. Ah, but he says, I can begin to comprehend that God might forgive me. But what about the chains that bind me?

27:31 I'm bound by passion and lust. I know I shouldn't be immoral, but I am. I know I shouldn't lose my temper, but I do. I know I shouldn't use foul language, but it just seems to come out.

27:45 What hope is there? I can't break the chains. I've resolved every New Year's that I was going to do it. But I'm bound by habit and chains of lust and passion and pride.

27:56 What hope is there for me? We point into an open tomb and we say, you see that tomb? There is no power greater on earth than the power of death. Many a man is thrown off the power of habit, but nobody's thrown off the power of death.

28:10 But one has. The Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord Jesus, burst the chains of death by his own power. And I suddenly realized there's hope. If he can break the chains of death, he can break the chains of lust that bind me.

28:28 If he can break the chains of death, he can break the chains of habit. And so as we display to men the meaning of the resurrection, that Christ was conquering over every enemy of man and his relationship to God, then the sinner sees a suitableness of Christ in his work to his need. Ah, but he says, yes, I can believe that Christ could forgive, that Christ could even break the chains. But what promise do I have that I won't go back and be enmeshed by those same chains again?

29:01 Ah, then we tell him, after the resurrection came the ascension, and he sits at the right hand of the Father. And what's he sit there for? Just marking time till the day of judgment? No.

29:12 What's it say? Hebrews 7.25. He is able to save, not from the uttermost.

29:18 We usually use that as a verse for drunkards. People are down and out. They say, oh, God can save from the uttermost. No, it says, he is able to save, you look it up, Hebrews 7.25, he is able to save to the uttermost, them that come unto God by him. Why? Seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them. And we're able to tell men, look, if you come to Christ, not only will sin be forgiven because he died, not only will its power be broken because Christ rose from the dead, but he lives.

29:51 And he lives to pray for all who come unto God by him, that they may be kept day by day from the power of sin. And so we set before people the meaning of the ascension of the Lord Jesus and his place as a high priest. And we show them the suitableness of Christ to their need, not only in his person, but in his glorious work Christ dying, Christ rising, Christ ascended to the right hand of the Father. And when a soul comes to Christ, you know what happens?

30:24 All of this that I'm talking about now, crucifixion, resurrection, ascension, it was just a lot of words and names. That's all. Suddenly they become the very issues that give me hope, the only things that give me hope. I see crucifixion, that's not a word and a name and a part of religious rigmarole, that's not a word and a name and a part of religious rigmarole, the crucifixion of Christ, that's the only thing suited to meet my need.

30:52 The only way a holy God can forgive a vile sinner like me is by punishing my sin in the person of a substitute. And resurrection, ah, just an occasion to put on a new hat and a new dress Easter morning, no meaning. Suddenly I see in that open tomb a suitableness to my need. That open tomb is pledged that I can come out of the tomb of spiritual death and the bondage of my sin and be liberated by the life of Christ.

31:23 Ascension, ah, Christ is off somewhere out in the third heavens, I couldn't care less. Just like the astronauts, they've been whirling around up there, but we've gone on as usual, flipped on the radio or TV once in a while, see how they're doing. That's all we think about Christ seated at the right hand of the Father until we come to Christ. And when we come we see a suitableness of Christ.

31:45 Christ at the right hand of the Father, that's my only hope. He prays for me that I'll be kept in the midst of a wicked world. He prays for me that I'll be kept in the midst of a sinful generation. And what was but words and names becomes the hope of mercy.

32:04 That's true of the person of Christ. There's some of you here that the fact that he's God, you think, well, I believe it, but it doesn't make much difference. Why? Because you've never seen yourself lost that no man could help you.

32:18 But what I see myself is so hopelessly lost that no man can help me, the fact that he's the Son of God. This is more than a word and a name. This is the very thing upon which my helpless soul hangs. There's a divine Savior able to do something for me.

The Third Aspect: The Holy Spirit as the Agent of Revelation

32:32 See? And so this revelation of Christ, based upon the Scriptures, centering upon him as God's mediator, his person, and his work, for the salvation of Christ, is a revelation of Christ based upon the Scriptures centering upon him as God's mediator. The third thing about this revelation is the Holy Spirit is the agent who makes it. The Bible is the basis of this revelation which is necessary if sinners are to come to Christ.

33:03 Jesus Christ is the focal point of that revelation, not the church, not the preacher, not an altar, not the sacraments, but Christ himself. He said, come unto me, not my preachers, come unto me, not my church, come unto me, he said. Isn't that what he said? Him, that comes to me, I'll no wise cast out.

33:24 That's his promise. The Holy Spirit is the one who makes this revelation. You see, to see something you need two things. You see me tonight.

33:34 It may not be a very pleasant sight, but you see me nonetheless. Now, you need two things to see any object. You need light and an organ that can perceive light. If we were to knock out all the lights, not knock them out to pull the switches, and the room were to become pitch black, you'd have an organ of sight, your eyes.

33:59 I don't know of anyone here who's blind. All of you have two organs of sight stuck there in these sockets, your eyeball. And that's so made that it's sensitive to light. But if we put all the lights out, you can't see.

34:13 Why? Not because you don't have an organ of sight, but because there's no light upon the object. So we flip the lights on and immediately you see. Why?

34:21 Because light is bounced off those objects and this organ that can be sensitive to light. Now, suppose we leave the light on and we bring in a man whose eyes have been put out, perhaps someone whose eyes were lost in battle or by some congenital disease or deformity. And there's light all about him, but he sees no light. Why?

34:42 Not because there's no light, but because he has no organ that is sensitive to light. The optic nerve has gone dead. Or perhaps there's a thick cataract that's grown over the opening where light comes in. But if that organ has no light, it's just as though there were no light.

34:58 You say, what does this have to do with coming to Christ? It has everything in the world to do with coming to Christ. For though the scriptures are the basis of this revelation and Jesus Christ is the center of that revelation, unless the Holy Spirit makes that revelation, we'll never see Christ as suited to our need. Come back to that text in John 5 again.

35:25 One of the key texts. I never realized how important it was till I began to study. For this series of messages. Notice what Jesus said in John 5, 39.

35:36 The King James says, ye search, or search, as though it's an imperative. The American Standard translates it, ye search. The reason there's that discrepancy is in the Greek, the verb form there for the imperative, command, search, and the indicative, ye are searching, is exactly the same. So you have to let the context tell you.

35:56 The Greek verb form is spelled exactly the same. It's sort of like some words in the English language. You've got to let the context tell what you mean by that. You talk about something, it's meek for him to do it.

36:08 You don't mean it's a piece of steak, but you mean it's, well, that's spelled different, though. That's M-E-E-T. But you know those words that have double meanings. All right, well, that's the problem here.

36:18 And I rather think that what our Lord is saying is not a command to search the Scriptures, but he says, you Jews, you are searching the Scriptures. You make it your business to search the Scriptures. He says, because in them you think you have eternal life. Now, notice.

36:33 But he said, the very Scriptures you're searching are testifying of me. They are full of light. Light that shines upon my face. But what happened?

36:44 Verse 40. But ye will not come to me. What happened? They had light.

36:52 They studied the Scripture, which is full of light. Jesus said, there are beams of light going out continually from the Scriptures, revealing him. But he said, you people don't see me. Why?

37:02 They had no organ. No organ of sight. They were spiritually blind. Spiritually blind.

37:07 That's why they didn't come to him. The only one who could meet their needs stood in their midst for three and a half years. And what did they do? Put him out on a cross.

37:16 Why? Not because there wasn't sufficient light, but because there was no sight. Their eyes were blind. I want you to listen to three of the most sober verses in all the Bible, and I trust every one of you will hear them with the ears of your heart.

37:33 2 Corinthians 3. 2 Corinthians 4.4 says, The God of this world hath blinded the minds of them that believe not, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ should shine upon them. Why don't men see in the Lord Jesus the one perfectly suited to their needs and flee to him and commit themselves to him?

38:06 Why will they trust in themselves, in their works, in morality, in sacraments, in church membership, in this church or other churches? Why will men do this? Because they are spiritually blinded by the devil, Paul says. Paul says, The God of this world has blinded the minds so that they can't see what?

38:24 He says, lest the light or the illumination of the gospel of the glory of Christ. He doesn't blind them to church and to moral faith. He says, The God of this world hath blinded the minds to church and to morality and to being nice and being religious, but he blinds them to the glory of God in the face of Christ as the only hope of sinners. That's what he blinds them to.

38:53 And he gets them trusting as we heard this morning in a physical act. They come to an altar but their hearts have never experienced the revelation of Christ. See? Or they trust in some mental act.

39:06 They've seen some propositions and they've nodded to them, believing in those propositions which has captured their hearts. It's a sobering text, isn't it? The God of this world has blinded the mind of every unbeliever. I didn't say it.

39:26 St. Paul said it. The God of this world hath blinded the minds of them that believe not. Second text, 1 Corinthians 2.14 The natural man perceives not the things of the Spirit of God for they are foolishness unto him neither can he know them. That's a word of ability. Neither does he have the ability to know them because they are spiritually judged. Now, what does that mean?

39:55 That does not mean that a person before he's brought to Christ can't understand the facts of the Bible. You can understand about Jonah and the whale, Noah and the ark, Christ on the cross, Paul preaching at Athens. You can understand all of that. But listen.

40:11 You see nothing in those accounts that is perfectly suited to the deepest spiritual needs of man. That's what no man perceives apart from the work of the Spirit. The suitableness of that cross to my deep spiritual needs. The suitableness of that person who is God and man as my only hope of salvation.

40:38 This is what men do not perceive. It's all a matter of words and names and dogmas. But there is no reaching out with the heart. Then the third verse is the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness.

41:00 Now that doesn't mean it's foolishness in the sense that they laugh at it and say ha ha who cares about that. But it's more the foolishness that says ho hum who cares. Sure he died. I believe it.

41:17 Sure. Fine. Let's get on with the business. Let's talk about something else.

41:24 The last thing I want to talk about is the very focal point from which we draw our strength and our hope. We see in Christ crucified the very focal point of all of our hopes for time and for eternity. And we can say with Paul God forbid that I should glory save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. Beloved what is the most simple question?

Application: Evangelism Must Be Doctrinal and Prayerful

42:00 As this sinner saved by grace has tried tonight to simply lay out a little bit of what the Bible says about who Jesus is. About what he did and why he did it. Let me ask you something. How interested have you been?

42:25 Suppose I had announced tonight in very soft tones in the next 40 minutes I'm going to lay out a quick rich quick scheme that is infallible. And anyone who will listen to me over the next 40 minutes and do what I say I guarantee in three months you'll have $5,000 in the bank. How would you have listened? Why?

43:05 I'd have been talking about something that interested you. What's been your attitude before you? Who he is? What he's done?

43:19 Has your heart and mind and soul gone out with an eagerness even greater than if we were holding out some scheme to get rich quick? That's a good test of whether you've ever recognized your need of Christ. For when you recognize that your greatest need is your sins, how can you be broken of the chains that bind you? When you've come to see that that's your greatest need, then, dear one, when someone can try to point you to the answer, your heart and mind hangs upon every word. Dear young people and friends and visitors, listen. When someone is setting out the suitableness of Christ to meet that need, those are angels' words to you. Has the Holy Spirit ever revealed to you that these words, Son of God, Atonement, Crucifixion, Resurrection, Ascension, Intercession

44:49 of Christ, not just so much religious jargon, but, at the most, spiritual and spiritual things? What can you answer to those questions tonight? Do you see why I'm crying out continually that evangelism must be doctrinal? It must set forth who Jesus is and what he's done.

45:27 Because men aren't going to come to Jesus unless they see his All evangelism, personal, corporate, church, backyard evangelism. It must be prayerful. Why? Because light is not enough.

45:43 There must be sight. This book gives light, but God the Holy Ghost alone gives sight. There's got to be eyes and light if there's ever going to be sight. Throw the lights out, you can't see.

45:56 Flip them on and put your eyes out, you can't see. And we can disseminate the word of God and tell people who Jesus is and pass out tracts till we're blue in the face and wear holes in our shoe leather. But if we don't pray, oh God will here and there sovereignly shine upon a heart. But we won't see that production, that response, unless we pray.

46:27 For the scripture says God gives the Holy Spirit to those who ask him, Luke 11, 13. And so our evangelism must be prayerful. Now what's that do? With cleverness.

46:38 The whole idea that we've got to create a climate in which people will feel at ease and feel relaxed and sort of entertain them and have a very dynamic, captivating personality who can tell stories and capture their interest and then really barrel people over with his persuasion to come to Jesus, come to Jesus. Strike it off, dear ones, it's not evangelism. It's not evangelism.

47:02 And the reason we fall into that terrible curse is because we've moved away from biblical theology. If I believe men are blind, no amount of trickery is going to open their eyes. I know, Lord, you've got to open their eyes. I tell you, dear ones, that thing has gripped me so much in the past months, I can't explain what it's done to me.

47:22 As I stand here right now and look out into the faces of people and realize unless God gives you spiritual eyes, I may as well have chattered in Chinese tonight. Because though there's been light enough to save you a thousand times over, unless God gives you sight, you'll perish. That's why, Jesus said, no man can come to me except the Father draw him.

Appreciation for God's Sovereign Drawing

47:48 And how does he draw? All that have heard and learned come. That learning based upon the Bible, centered in Jesus, the agent is the Holy Spirit, giving eyes to see. Then remember I said this morning that my purpose was to encourage you who have come, to appreciate a little bit more what God had to do to bring you.

48:13 See what he had to do?

48:16 He had to show you that though you weren't so bad, and weren't so ugly, you were a hopeless, helpless, hell-deserving sinner. And he had to strip you down till you recognized your need. Then he had to show you the suitableness of Christ to your need. And how did he do it?

48:33 He sovereignly arranged it. You got somewhere where you heard this book preached. Or he got it in your hands and you began to read it. That was his drawing.

48:45 Multitudes tonight will go to their beds and many of them will die who've never seen the covers of this book and never heard what God has to say. I remember once, one passage quoted. Why should you and I have been put in the way where this book was at our disposal? It was preached to us, taught to us, expounded.

49:04 That was the Father God. God. You wouldn't come to Christ until you heard and learned of Him. And you wouldn't hear and learn of Him unless you got in the way of this book and His truth.

49:16 Who would God be?

49:20 Who was it that showed you who Jesus was?

49:24 When Peter said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God, he said, Peter, you didn't learn this from your father.

49:30 He said, The Holy Spirit revealed it unto you. And seeing in Christ, the divine Son of God, your only hope of mercy, the Holy Spirit gave you sight. You see in the cross, your only resting place, you're not trusting in anything but Christ and in crucified. God had to lift that veil that the devil had cast over your mind.

49:52 God had to give you sight.

49:55 You appreciate more what He's done. When you came to Christ, you thought it was a pretty simple thing. And it is blessedly simple. But having come, you look back and see all that God had to do to bring you to His Son.

50:09 And He didn't do it by accident.

50:13 He didn't do it by accident.

50:16 You and I ought to fall on our faces tonight and say, Oh, God, why should you have drawn me?

50:26 Beloved, it's a humbling thing why God should have put sight in my blinded eyes.

50:36 For 17 years, the cross. Christ, the resurrection, ascension, words and names. That's all.

50:46 And all that mattered was the world, the flesh, my life, my will, my plans, my passions, my appetites. But God did something and what happened?

50:57 Suddenly I saw in Christ crucified my only hope of mercy.

51:03 Threw my life down at His feet.

51:07 Never been the same thing.

51:11 Why?

51:14 Was it an accident or did God do it on purpose?

51:20 Blessed be God for His grace. As McShane said, Chosen not for good in me. Waking up from wrath to flee. Hidden in the Savior's side by the Spirit sanctified.

Final Exhortation: Come to Christ Alone

51:33 Help me here on earth to show by my love how much I owe. And if you're here tonight, dear one, coming to this church will never meet your need. I tell the people who come here, you can come here every Sunday for a hundred years and die and go straight to hell. You can believe everything I preach and die and go straight to hell.

51:54 If you meet me. If you miss Christ, you've missed salvation. You can come to any other church. You can come down an aisle and you can partake of the sacraments and you can do anything else.

52:05 But if you miss Christ, you've missed life. For He said, Him that comes to me, I will in no wise cast out. May the Spirit of God enable you to come. Let us pray.